The Neighbor Favor(35)
“Which was?”
“I once read an article that said back in the 1980s, people thought that Corona beers had urine in them because of its odd yellowish color. But it turns out that someone at Heineken had started the rumor to hurt Corona’s sales. So I asked him if he knew that if he were caught drinking that beer forty years ago, someone might tell him that he was drinking pee.”
Nick snorted a laugh but stopped at the miserable look on Lily’s face. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Yes,” she groaned. “He just shook his head, and it was very clear that he did not want to keep talking to the girl who told him he was drinking urine.” She leaned her elbows against the table and sighed. “I wasn’t joking when I said I’m bad at flirting. I honestly wish I hadn’t come up with the bet. Like I said, I don’t want to date anyone.”
Nick hated to see her look so dejected. Instinctively, he reached out and gently squeezed her hand in reassurance. She blinked, then he realized what he was doing and quickly snatched his hand back.
He cleared his throat. “It could have been worse.”
“Oh, I’ve experienced worse.” She laughed to herself, although her feelings of humor didn’t reach her eyes. “Do you want to hear something really embarrassing?”
“Sure,” Nick said. He’d listen to whatever she told him if it made her feel better.
“Last year I met someone online,” she said. And Nick’s stomach fell right down to his ass. “I liked him a lot, and I thought it might go somewhere, but he ghosted me. Even though it ended badly, emailing with him made me realize how nice it was to talk to someone I actually liked. That’s when I decided I couldn’t be set up by my sisters anymore, so I came up with the bet.” She forced a smile. “I know it probably sounds pathetic.”
“It doesn’t.” Nick’s mouth was completely dry. “I would never think that you were pathetic.”
He was going to tell her the truth right now. He had to tell her.
“He probably feels like shit,” Nick said. “I know he does . . . and I know that because—”
“Oh yeah, I hope he does feel like shit,” she said, interrupting him. “Or, I don’t know, I at least hope he regrets not getting the chance to meet me. To give us a real shot. Sometimes I think about what I’d do if I ever saw him in person.”
Nick swallowed thickly. “What would you do?”
“I don’t know. I’d probably be too angry to say anything. Honestly, I hope I don’t meet him. I just want to move on and erase the whole thing from my memory.”
Nick nodded weakly. He realized then that there would be no good in telling Lily the truth. He’d only be selfishly trying to clear his own conscience. Lily didn’t want to meet Strick. What she wanted was to go forward and forget their emails ever happened. He’d separated himself because he’d felt embarrassed and shitty for lying to her, and he knew that further inserting himself into her life wouldn’t result in anything good. And in the process, he’d still hurt her. The best thing that he could do now was help her get a date to her sister’s wedding so that she could find happiness with someone else.
After he helped Lily, he’d disappear from her life. He never wanted to hurt her again.
“My best friend, Marcus, is having a birthday party this weekend,” Nick heard himself say. His voice felt weak as he spoke. “You should come with me. You might meet someone there.”
Lily perked up somewhat. “Really? What does your friend do?”
“He’s a literary agent.”
“So will there be lots of book people at this party?”
“Most likely.”
“Good. This is good.” In much higher spirits, she speared a meatball and popped it in her mouth. “Thank you. For inviting me to the party.”
She smiled at him, and Nick’s stomach twisted.
“No problem.”
Of course, he not only lived down the hall from Lily, but now he’d agreed to set her up with someone else, because that was the best thing for both of them.
It might just kill him in the process, though. The universe could fuck all the way off.
7
Flowers had been the scent of Lily’s childhood. And the peaceful, aesthetically pleasing environment of Greenehouse Florist and Nursery in Willow Ridge, New Jersey, had been the constant backdrop of her life. She’d spent many evenings here after school, her nose stuck in a book while her parents worked. Some of Lily’s earliest memories were of sitting beside her mom as she made flower arrangements. These many years later, Greenehouse was still one of Lily’s favorite places to be.
Except during wedding season. Because then everything was complete chaos.
“Where are the peonies?” Lily’s mother, Dahlia, called, rushing down the aisle, rows and rows of plants and flowers on either side of her. Like the rest of the Greene women, Dahlia was petite with thick, curly hair. Although at the moment her hair was tied up in a topknot, and instead of her go-to A-line dresses and sandals, she was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, both smudged with soil.
“I have them here,” Lily said at the counter, filling tall cylinder vases with white peonies and pink roses for centerpieces. She pricked her finger on a thorn, but she was moving so quickly, she didn’t even wince. She’d move faster if she were dressed in something more comfortable. Her feet ached in the heels she’d put on this morning for the EmpoWOMENt career seminar she’d attended with Dahlia. Lily glanced down at her light pink button-up and groaned. She’d smeared soil on her collar somehow. This was one of the few nice blouses she owned. She’d bought it on sale at Zara.